The Office... Barry Keldoulis
Sydney Contemporary’s director keeps artists’ hard work in the frame.
DESCRIBE YOUR OFFICE? It is minimal and functional because a lot of the work we do is visiting galleries, talking about their presentations and seeing what artists are doing. DESCRIBE A TYPICAL DAY? Because [this] is a once-a-year event, the workload is consistent but the emphasis changes. Most work in the office [is post-fair], refreshing application forms for the next year. Then I start to travel a lot to talk to galleries and collector groups. It’s an indication of the growing internationalisation of the art world that the number of countries that artists are from continues to grow. This year we have a gallery coming from Paris for the first time showing works from Africa and China. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT THIS WORK? It’s good to go around over the course of the year to see the directions artists are moving in and the ways galleries foresee presenting their new work. When I first took an artist to a fair in the early 2000s they were horrified that their work was being presented in this ‘meat market’, as they called it. Now artists want their work to be at the fair because it will be seen not only by collectors and curators but also thousands of the public. YOUR WORKSPACE ESSENTIALS? A computer with working email and internet connection. A printer as I’m a bit old school and like to see material printed out (on recycled paper!). A DREAM WORKSPACE OBJECT? My computer screen is stacked on a pile of books. I was recently at Auckland Art Gallery and their offices had magnificent desks for sitting at or standing, so I would love one of those. And a view of the Opera House. TELL US ABOUT THE 2019 PROGRAM? We have a number of new aspects, one of which is Next where we’ve asked galleries to supply work by artists under 35 years old and at an accessible price point under $5000. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO IN THE BOOTHS? It’s exciting to have four galleries from Japan – three young and one established, Whitestone, which is bringing Gutai works from mid-last century, something we rarely see in Australia. The materiality of those works was crucial to their impact. WHAT ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PUBLIC PROGRAM? Installation Contemporary has been curated by the wonderful Mikala Tai of 4A Centre and it’s always interesting for visitors to see works on a larger scale that they wouldn’t see in the galleries. The talks include one of the original Guerrilla Girls and a panel looking at Indigenous languages. HOW HAS OUR RELATIONSHIP TO COLLECTING EVOLVED? Fairs were once more like stock shows where galleries showed work that hadn’t sold. Now it’s about presenting new work. I’ve felt it my job to expand awareness of the hard work of our artists. Selling their work is the way in which most artists survive materially, and receive validation. DO YOU HAVE A GUIDING PRINCIPLE FOR COLLECTING? Buy for love. The best thing you can do to support the investment value is to support the artist! When you buy work because you love it, you rarely tire of it and have years and years of enjoyment from it. sydneycontemporary.com.au